BlackBerry Botch Protected From Claims

BlackBerry’s mobile messaging network is back in action after a four-day global outage, but a massive backlog of emails and text messages will translate into service slow-downs, reports the Guardian.

BlackBerry owner Research in Motion (RIM) is apparently protected from compensation claims by its millions of customers.

RIM's BlackBerry

The small print in customer contracts protects RIM from claims in the event of an outage, according to the newspaper.

It remains unclear, though, if RIM’s corporate clients have any legal recourse, and UK telecoms are looking into possible claims. RIM co-chief executive Jim Balsillie downplayed the possibility. "The one thing you have to understand about these carriers is that people understand the complexity of these systems, and when something like this happens, everybody pulls together because it's all about serving the customers,” he said.

RIM's chief executive and founder, Mike Lazaridis, said Thursday during a press conference that he would like to "personally apologize to all BlackBerry customers we have let down.” But if there are actionable claims, resolving them could cost the company as much as $100 million, one analyst told the Guardian.

Lazaridis reassured customers that none of the correspondence they sent during the outage would be lost. He also described how a system upgrade at a RIM facility in Britain triggered a “ripple effect” that spread worldwide.

"It caused outages and delays for some customers in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, India, Brazil, Chile and Argentina,” he said. “This caused a cascade failure in our system."